


The Second Part

by Manuscriptor



Series: Avem Universe [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angels are Animals, Co-Parenting, Eggs, Gen, dean doesn't know what he's doing, slightly domestic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-17
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-10-11 14:12:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17448500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Manuscriptor/pseuds/Manuscriptor
Summary: An addition to the Avem Universe. I left it ambiguous on whether this is before or after the other story so it doesn't matter if you read that first or not.Dean doesn't mind the avem of the city. They could be friendly and funny and entertaining. He could put up with them as long as they didn't interfere with his life too much. However, one particular avem-affectionately named Cas by Dean-has much different plans. Well, assuming Cas plans anything is a stretch.Cas's mate seems to have gone missing like most wild avem do. Cas can't hatch three eggs on his own though. Who better to recruit than the human that is semi-kind to him?





	The Second Part

**Author's Note:**

> Someone wanted to see a bit more of Dean and Cas in this universe and I'm happy to write it ^-^ enjoy!

Dean was going to the store because he had cooped himself up in his workshop accidentally for several days and had run out of food without meaning to. It was a common occurrence that Dean had gotten used to. Sometimes, you just got too busy for food. It was a fact of life.

He had groceries now though, two big paper bags he had tucked under each arm. He almost felt like whistling as he walked back home, thinking of the repairs he still had to do. Small jobs, just odds and ends here and there—fixing the spoke of a wagon wheel, the handle of a pot, preparing a set of horse shoes for a client—things that kept him in business and money in his pocket.

“Ka-has! Ka-has!”

Dean grinned at the familiar cry and looked up, scanning the sky for his favorite avem. Okay, so maybe favorite was a stretch. The avem was friendly and Dean was friendly in return.

“Hey, Cas!” he called when he finally spotted the black-winged avem. He would have waved but he was still holding his bags of food.

“Ka-has!!” the avem cried, diving down so fast that Dean was scared he would crash into the ground.

He should have known better than to worry. Cas, as Dean called the avem, pulled up at the last moment and landed safely, although he did flounder a little in his rush. He bounded over to Dean on all fours, feathers puffed up and eyes wide in a panic. He tangled himself between Dean’s legs, almost tripping him up.

“Ka-has, ka-has, ka-has!” he chattered, flapping his wings and accidentally hitting Dean.

“Easy, easy,” Dean coaxed, trying to get out of the avem’s way. He had some delicate groceries that couldn’t be dropped. “Cas, what’s wrong? Got bugs in your feathers or what?”

“Ka-has!” Cas cried and jumped up, grabbing onto the hem of Dean’s shirt and trying to pull him into the air. He didn’t get far but that didn’t stop him from trying.

“Woah, woah!” Dean said, staggering forward and once again almost dropping his bags. “Cas, stop it! What’s wrong? Talk to me!”

He knew the avem could talk. While not all avem could mimic human speech, Dean knew for a fact that Cas had spent plenty of time around sailors and fishers to pick up quite the vocabulary. And sure, Cas was more prone to communicating through his harsh, cawing language, but he had also spent plenty of time around Dean to know that words worked a lot better in any given situation.

“Come,” Cas finally said, flapping his wings frantically. “Come! Come! Fast!”

“Okay, okay, I’m following you!” Dean said, letting himself be dragged along by a frantic Cas. His groceries would be fine for a little while. Plus, Cas probably only wanted to show him a shiny rock or an interesting bug. Things that had definitely happened to Dean before in the past.

As it turned out, it wasn’t a stone or a stick or even the odd trinket that Cas had somehow stolen. Cas dragged Dean along, through alleyways and down narrow streetways. He led him all the way to an abandoned church.

The building was rotting and decrepit, the old wooden walls half falling down but diligently maintaining their shape. The stained glass windows were mostly intact. A couple had been shattered from the outside it seemed. The building wasn’t as large as the modern cathedrals, but it was also obvious that a lot of love had been poured into when it had been constructed. It was still standing, which was a testament to its constructors, and it would probably remaining standing for a while.

Cas dragged Dean up the front steps and through the awkward wreckage of the scattered pews.

“Jesus, Cas,” Dean said, nearly stumbling up the steps to the altar.

“Ka-has!” Cas said, finally letting go of Dean and flying up into the rafters. He perched among the half broken beams and looked down at Dean, as if expecting him to fly up and join him. “Ka-has!”

Dean sighed and set down his grocery bags. He rolled up his sleeves and got to work.

Climbing up the ram shackled wall of the church was a bit easier than he originally thought. There were plenty of old holes and only a little rotten wood. Dean was grunting and sweating by the time he pulled himself up onto the same beam as Cas though, and he realized that climbing was harder than it looked. He paused for a breath, but Cas wasn’t an avem with a lot of patience.

“Ka-has,” he said and then hopped a couple beams over, using his wings to maintain his balance in a way that Dean would definitely have to improvise.

Dean sighed, looking down at the fall he was risking by doing this. He wouldn’t hurt himself that bad if he did fall, but he would definitely hurt himself if he did. He looked over where Cas was looking at him expectantly and then sighed again.

“This better be a good fucking piece of glass or whatever,” Dean mumbled, more to himself than to Cas.

He started inching over, taking his time even as Cas chattered at him impatiently. He had to take the long way compared to Cas’s route, since several of the beams were able to hold up an avem but not strong enough to hold up a human. Dean was sweating even more by the time he reached Cas’s side, and he swore he would strangle the avem if this was anything less than diamonds.

“Ka-has,” Cas said, gesturing with his wings to a small crevice that couldn’t be seen from the floor. He pulled his wings in tight and careful and crept a little closer. He looked back at Dean and chirped in a way that Dean had never heard him sound before.

“Okay, let’s see what this entire thing is all about,” Dean grumbled, scooting along the beam and brushing aside Cas’s wings so he could get a better view.

And he froze.

Oh shit.

This was much different than any other stone or bauble or trinket that Cas had every brought him.

This was much, _much_ different.  

Three eggs sat nestled in a nest of cobbled blankets and straw and grass. They were pale blue, speckled with faint brown and about as big around both of Dean’s fists. They looked so delicate lying next to each other, and even while Dean stared, Cas crept closer, almost growling deep in his throat protectively.

“Oh, yeah, I get it,” Dean said, backing up enough so that Cas fell silent again. “This is what you wanted to show me?”

Cas tucked his wings in tight and crawled into the nest, covering the eggs with his feathers to keep them warm. He clicked his tongue at Dean and then lifted his wings to show off the eggs again. He clicked his tongue again.

Dean sat back on his beam and crossed his arms. “Well, I’ve seen them now,” he said. “Is this all you wanted to show me?”

Cas clicked and sat up, brushing his feathers over the eggs. He then crawled out of the nest and back onto the beam next to Dean. He sat still for a moment and then twitched his wings open, draping them across Dean’s back. He cooed and then backed away, looking expectantly from Dean to the eggs and then back again.

“Ka-has?”

Dean blinked and then it occurred to him what Cas wanted him to do. “Uuuhhh, I think I’ll break them if I sit on them,” he said. “I think that’s a better job for you. Don’t you think?

“Ka-has,” Cas said, flaring his wings to tent in the nest and Dean. He looked pointedly at the eggs and then back at Dean.

“This isn’t my job, Cas,” Dean said, trying to scoot out from under his wings and make his way back down to the floor. “I don’t know the first thing about avems other than that you’re annoying and you steal my food a lot when you can. It’s nice you showed me your eggs but I gotta go. I’ve got work and groceries to get home.”

Cas hissed and leapt in front of him, blocking his route back down to the floor. He flared his wings wide and fluffed up his feathers. And yeah, he was intimidating. If he wanted, he could easily push Dean out of the rafters and could no doubt overpower him in a grapple. Dean hugged the beam a little tighter between his thighs and tried to think of how he could get out of this alive and better yet, unscathed.

“Easy, Cas,” Dean said, doing his best to keep his voice low and calming. “Easy. Let’s be calm about this. You wanted to show me the eggs, and now I’ve seen them. Do you want me to stay here?”

“Ka-has,” Cas said, brushing his wings protectively over the eggs.

“Do you want me to take care of the eggs?” Dean tried. He really wished Cas was more vocal about things. More like other avem.

“Ka-has!” Cas said excitedly, flapping his wings and jumping up and down on his beam. “Ka-has! Ka-has!”

“Okay,” Dean said with a deep breath. The nest looked so small and fragile in front of him, lacking the care that it so desperately needed. Dean sighed. “Fine.”

He inched back to the nest and, with a nervous Cas hovering right over his shoulder, Dean gathered the eggs into his shirt, surprised at how warm they were. They heated him even through the fabric of his jacket and felt a lot stronger than they looked. Dean made sure they were all safely tucked against his body and then began the slow scoot back the way he had come.

Cas hovered nervously the entire time, sticking close to Dean and guiding him with soft touches from his wings.

Dean somehow made it down the wall and back on his own two feet, all of the eggs still clutched in his shirt, unbroken. Cas demanded he sniff them all over anyway.

“Ka-has,” Cas said, jerking his chin at the doorway and bounding along. Obviously wanting Dean to follow him. Obviously used to being the one in charge.

“I'm coming, I'm coming,” Dean grumbled, taking a moment to grab his original load of groceries before staggering out after Cas.

The entire situation was confusing, and Dean didn't understand avem at all. Why Sam had chosen to study them as a full time job Dean didn't know. They were infuriating, stubborn, and hard to read. Dean didn't know why he entertained Cas so much, but the avem seemed to trust him and now look where Dean was. Three avem eggs stuffed in his shirt and not a clue what to do with them.

Dean met up with Cas outside.

“Okay, now what?” he asked, not really expecting an answer. “You got a new nest you want me to move these to?”

Cas cooed, a much softer sounds than he normal made. He circled around Dean's legs, rubbing his wings against his pants, but didn't head butt or push Dean in any particular direction.

Dean was a little concerned about the eggs. He didn't know how long they could go without Cas's body heat.

“Um, Cas? Wanna tell me where we're taking these?” he asked, looking down at the avem. “Huh? Where're we going?”

Cas didn't seem to care apparently. He was content to sit on Dean's feet and groom his wings instead.

Dean nearly groaned. “So what?” he said. “And I supposed to take these home? Are you gonna get mad at me if I take them home?”

Cas cooed again.

Dean actually groaned this time. “I guess we're going home,” he said, more to himself than to Cas.

He was almost dreading what would happen when they got back to the apartment. Dean had never encountered Cas indoors, but for a wild avem, being trapped by walls and a roof was the worst thing that could happen. If Cas didn't throw himself into a panic, then Dean would be surprised. He still wasn't sure what he was even supposed to be doing with the eggs.

The walk home was filled with more questions than answers, since Cas was not one to make conversation. He followed Dean calmly though, occasionally wanting to see his eggs but most of the time just content to weave himself in and out of Dean's legs and mostly just get in the way.

Dean paused at his front door, fumbling with his keys and not wanting to drop anything more than usual. He hesitated, not sure if he should let Cas in, but as soon as he cracked the door open, then avem was pushing his way inside. Dean sighed but followed him in.

Cas, surprisingly, didn't freak out the moment he was inside. He climbed all over the furniture and rubbed his wings on everything, but he didn't freak out. Which was a relief.

Dean left his groceries in the kitchen and carried the eggs to the living room, where Cas was sniffing the couch.

“Here,” he said, taking him very carefully out of his shirt and setting them on the couch cushions next to Cas. “Happy?”

Cas turned, saw the eggs, and arched his wings in a panic, immediately turning on Dean in a flurry of feathers and harsh squawks.

“Jesus! Okay!” Dean relented, grabbing the eggs again.

Cas immediately calmed down once he saw Dean was holding the eggs and went back to sniffing the cushions.

“Cas, you know I can't hold these forever, right?” Dean said. He didn't dare try setting them down again. “I can't keep them warm. You have to do that.”

Actually, Dean had no idea how avem hatched their eggs. Did the males sit on them? He wasn't sure.

“What do you want me to do?” Dean tried even though he was pretty sure Cas wouldn't give him a straight answer.

“Ka-has,” Cas said, spotting the door to the bedroom and bounding off.

Dean rolled his eyes and followed him.

Cas was already on his bed, rolling around and getting his feathers everywhere. When Dean walked through the door, Cas popped to his feet and gestured to the bed.

“Ka-has!”

“You want the eggs in my bed?” Dean said. This situation just kept getting weirder and weirder.

But he didn't want Cas to pitch a fit, so he dutifully unloaded the eggs a second time, stepping back to let Cas sniff them over. Cas nudged them all to the center of the bed and then covered them protectively with his wings. He cooed at them, nudging them into place and then settling down with a sigh of contentment.

Okay?

Now Dean definitely had a problem. Cas couldn’t stay if this was how it was going to be. Dean couldn’t have an avem in his home, sitting on eggs, making a ruckus, and demanding attention. He wouldn’t be able to work! Let alone live his life. No. He had to stop this now before Cas got too carried away. Dean shouldn’t have even entertained him so long. He should have turned around the moment he saw the nest and the eggs. But he hadn't and now here he was.

“Okay,” he said, stepping up next to the bed. “Cas, you can't stay here. This is _my_ room, in _my_ house.”  

He planned on scooping Cas up and tossing him out on the room's balcony, but the moment Dean gotta close, Cas whipped his head around and glared at him, growling. Dean didn't even know avem _could_ growl and smartly kept his distance after that. Instead, he studied Cas from afar and tried to think of ways to get him to move without touching him.

If Dean opened the bay doors that lead to the balcony and perhaps made a loud noise on the other side of the room, maybe he could scare Cas into bolting outside. Then, Dean would just have to gently move the eggs out after him and everything would be fine again.

But Cas was already glaring at him like he could read his mind, so Dean trashed that idea. Maybe he just had to give the avem some space? A couple days? Maybe Cas would leave on his own once he got bored? Cas got bored of things constantly.

Cas didn’t look bored now.

He cooed over his eggs, pressing his nose against each one as if to make sure they were okay and then going back to nuzzling them with his feathers. He relaxed with a sigh and closed his eyes.

“So, you’re just gonna sleep in my bed then, huh?” Dean said, putting his hands on his hips for reasons he didn’t know.

Cas didn’t even open his eyes. He didn’t even roll over. He chirped and then fell silent, and Dean wanted to yell when he realized that the avem was most likely asleep. Instead, he took a deep breath to calm himself down and tiptoed across the room, slowly opening the bay windows to the balcony. Just in case Cas woke up.

Dean closed the doors to the bedroom as he left, so that if Cas woke up and did want to leave, there was only one way to go. For now, he guessed, the couch wasn’t too bad and he had access to the kitchen. Really, only the two things that Dean needed. Those, and work. Hopefully, things would work out by the morning and Dean would just have to sleep to fix it all.

The next morning, though, things weren’t much different.

Dean had gotten all the way through breakfast and was just finishing up the dishes, thinking about changing clothes before work when it struck him that he would have to go into his bedroom. And then he remembered what was in his bedroom. And then he remembered everything that had happened yesterday to land him in the place he was today.

“Shit,” Dean mumbled.

He set aside his plate and wiped his hands on his pants as he hurried through the apartment. He hesitated right outside the bedroom door, almost pressing his ear against it in an effort to hear if Cas was still there or not. It was silent as far as Dean could tell, but that didn’t really mean anything. Dean took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

Cas was most definitely still on the bed, still curled up with his wings draped awkwardly. Probably around the eggs. He raised his head when Dean walked in.

“Ka-has,” he said softly, like he didn’t want to disturb the eggs and the young ones inside of them.

“Cas, you need to leave,” Dean said. It was stern, but Dean couldn’t live like this.

But Cas gamely rolled to his feet and shook out his wings. The blankets beneath him had been gathered into a nest-like shape that also happened to fit him as well. He stretched and yawned more like a cat than a bird and then hopped to the end of the bed. He motioned for Dean.

Dean reluctantly stepped forward.

“Ka-has,” Cas said, grabbing his wrist and yanking him over to the nest. He pulled Dean down so he was leaning half-on the bed and half-off, hovering over the eggs so that he didn’t crush them. “Ka-has.”

“You want me to sit on the eggs?” Dean said, not really understanding the situation. It was awkward. Cas was awkward. Cas was staring at him like he should know what he was doing, but Dean didn’t.

“Ka-has,” Cas said again, letting Dean go and hopping back to the end of the bed. He groomed his wings for a moment, looking at the open doors to the balcony.

The weather was clear today, not a cloud in the sky with the sun shining bright. Out over the city skyline, the silhouettes of other avem winged their way through the smoke and grime that hovered just over the city. Avem had to fly high if they wanted the fresh air. Cas was eyeing up the heights with an interest that didn’t sit right with Dean.

“Oh no,” Dean said, pushing up from the bed and starting towards Cas. “You are _not_ leaving. You little _asshole_!”

He lunged for Cas but at the last moment, the avem moved, launching himself towards the balcony. And he made it too. He collided with the railing with a squawk and then scrambled over and jumped into the open air. And just like that, in a moment, Cas was gone. Well, not gone. Dean had the pleasure of watching the avem fade into a black speck and become just another silhouette in the flocks of the sky.

“Shit,” Dean said.

He certainly couldn't leave the eggs now. Couldn’t abandon them to get cold. Apparently Cas thought he was smart enough to keep them warm until he got back. The problem was that Dean wasn’t smart, and he was pretty sure that if he tried sitting on the eggs like Cas did, they would break and then Cas would _really_ be upset.

“Oh, shit,” he said, now staring helplessly down at the three baby-blue eggs now sitting on his bed.

Dean had to do something. He couldn’t let them freeze! But using his own body heat was definitely out of the question. No human would ever be able to sit on bird eggs to hatch them, or else people would be hatched chickens instead of getting angry at their hens when they refused to sit. Dean tried to think of anything else in the apartment that he could use. Without. Fully cooking the eggs through. What could he do now?

Dean covered the eggs with a blanket for now and pushed himself up from the bed, going back to the living room and scanning the space.

Nothing.

Dean moved to the kitchen.

Nope, the stove was much too dangerous for something like Cas’s offspring. If the eggs were even his. Dean didn’t even consider the possibility that the eggs might not even be Cas’s. He didn’t have much time though. He headed downstairs, into the forge.

And there!

Dean spotted it on his “newly repaired” bench, since he had just straightened the long handle of the coal pan just yesterday. He had been planning on returning it to its owner today, borrowing it for a couple days wouldn’t hurt anyone. Dean snatched it up and shoveled in a good heaping of coals, snapping the trap shut and hurrying back upstairs.

He passed his hand close to the metal a couple times as he headed back to the bedroom, wanting to make sure it wouldn’t get too hot. He wanted to keep the eggs warm, not cook them through. It didn’t feel too hot and it would be cushioned beneath the mattress. Nothing too dangerous, Dean hoped.

He shoved it underneath the spot where the eggs sat and pulled the blanket over them completely. There, that would keep them warm, right? Dean hoped. He didn’t have a plan B. He stuck his hand under the blanket just to check and was relieved when it was significantly warmer than the rest of the room. Yes, the eggs would be fine.

Dean didn’t want to leave them for too long at a time though which meant he couldn’t go back down to his forge to work. There wasn’t much else in the house that needed to be done really. Well, nothing that could be done while sitting next to a bed egg-sitting.

Dean ended up settling down with his notebook to sketch out some ideas for cobbled inventions that he hadn’t gotten around to planning. Odds and ends really, devices that boiled water for tea and coffee. Wheeled vehicles that were more stable than bicycles. Most of it was just building off of things that already existed, made better inside of Dean’s mind. Perhaps a necktie that didn’t feel like it was strangling you?

Dean took a break for lunch, bringing his sandwich into the bedroom to eat while sitting next to his bed. He double checked the heat beneath the blanket and then hauled a bucket of coals up from his forge and refilled the pan.

Was this his life now? How long did it take for avem eggs to hatch? Dean wished he had a faster way to contact Sam so he could ask him.

Dean sat back in his chair and put his feet up on the end of the bed so he could lean back. This was boring and honestly? Dean didn’t hate Cas for splitting as soon as he could. Dean wasn’t sure how much longer he could do this and stay sane. He closed his eyes, wishing he could just run away from this the same way Cas had.

Dean was asleep and dreaming about flying before he realized it.

And he was woken up in a very rude manner with Cas climbing directly over him in order to get back on top of his eggs. Dean sputtered and then grunted when Cas kicked him right in the stomach.

“Gee, thanks,” he said. “I watch your kids and this is how you repay me?”

Cas blinked up at him innocently and then yawned.

Dean glanced out the window and was surprised to see the setting sun. How long exactly had he been asleep? Jesus.

He pushed himself to his feet and grabbed the handle of the coal pan. Now that Cas was back, there was no real reason to use it, and Dean certainly didn’t want to overheat the eggs even accidentally. He left the coal pan by the bed though, figuring that Cas would leave again and Dean would need to use it again at some point.

“Ka-has,” Cas said while he watched Dean work. He nosed over his eggs, making sure each one was okay and then settling down with his wings hugged around himself.

And so they fell into a routine. Dean slept on the couch while Cas slept on the eggs in Dean’s bed. Every morning, Dean would make himself breakfast, eat, and then go to relieve Cas of his position. Cas would leave whether Dean was ready or not, and it was Dean’s job to put new coals in the pan and keep the eggs warm during the day.  

Days passed. So did weeks. Hours and minutes ticking by in a steady sort of blur.

Dean shifted his work schedule so that he was doing most of his repairs and smithing at night, hammering well into the night and then napping next to the eggs during the day. It was a strange schedule, but it worked. Dean was slowly acclimating.  

Which was weird, to base your daily schedule around an avem. Avem were fickle things and Cas was no different. Maybe even more so. He returned at random times in the night and left early in the morning, never in a schedule that Dean could get used to. And at the same time, it was almost . . . . fulfilling to watch over the eggs.

It made Dean feel like a parent, which he never felt before in his life. Plus, one of them had to act like a parent. Cas was more of an absent-y father than anything. Yeah, he was affectionate and protective of the eggs while he sat of them over the night, but other than that, the eggs would surely have gone cold if Dean hadn’t been there.

Maybe that’s why Cas had come to him. Surely Cas must’ve had a mate in order to sire the eggs. So what had happened to her? Dean could only theorize. Perhaps it was a natural predator. Perhaps it was a sickness. Or old age. Or any other numerous things that killed avem every single day. It was impossible to know. Perhaps that’s why Cas had come to Dean in the first place. Maybe he knew that his mate was dead and he knew that he needed someone else to warm the eggs in her place.

It didn’t help Dean much to think about it know. It was best to just keep the eggs warm like he was supposed to and not think about things too much. Cas didn’t, so it must not matter.

Dean kept the eggs warm, let Cas out of the house every morning, and for the most part, kept his head down and his hands to himself. He let Cas turn the eggs and sniff them over and make sure they were healthy. Dean didn’t know what he was doing other than sticking the pan of coals under the mattress every day.

It was a nice job to have. Steady work and honest.

Not that smithing wasn’t honest work.

Dean didn’t realize that he had the skills to do anything outside smithing.

He paused in his thoughts to shift the position of the coal pan under the mattress and then stick his hand under the blanket to test the heat. Everything was fine and he could relax back in his seat again. Honestly this wasn’t that hard of a job. Dean didn’t understand why Cas ran away from it every morning. The whole routine was comforting to Dean at this point.

Banging on windows jolted him out of his daydreaming, and he sat up suddenly, twisting in his seat to look over at the balcony.

Cas was perched on the railing, wings flared for balance, looking more frantic that Dean had ever seen him look.

“Ka-has! Ka-has!” he yelled once he realized he had Dean’s attention.

Oh god, what was he doing? Dean didn’t want the entire neighborhood to know he was housing an avem. He would look like a crazy person or something! Dean jumped out of his chair and lunged for the double doors, yanking them open and glaring at Cas.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he hissed, so used to being quiet around the eggs that Cas being so loud was startling.

“Ka-has!” Cas said, darting around Dean and jumping up onto the bed. He was jumping up and down, rumpling the blankets and knocking pillows off in his excitement. He was much too violent for the fragile eggs, and Dean wanted to yank him off the bed as soon as possible.  

“Stop it!” Dean said, and maybe he was yelling too. “Cas, the eggs!”

“Ka-has!” Cas said, dodging around Dean’s flailing arms and remaining firmly on the bed. He flung himself on top of the eggs, covering them with his wings and glaring back at Dean. “Ka-has!”

“You’re going to break them!” Dean said, purposefully lowering his voice so that he wasn’t so loud. He had put a lot of love and care into the eggs and he wasn’t about to let Cas ruin it just because he wanted to jump on the bed.

“Ka-has!” Cas said and lifted one of his wings to reveal one egg, a hairline crack just visible near the more rounded end.

Dean couldn’t believe it.

“You broke it!” he yelled. He couldn’t _not_ yell. “You stupid avem! I can’t believe you broke it!” Could Dean rescue the chick inside? Was there any chance to save it? Had Cas just killed one of his own offspring?

“Ka-has!” Cas said and lifted his other wing.

The second egg had a much bigger crack in its surface but it was far from dead or helpless. The egg was actually shifting, rocking back and forth as whatever was inside worked at chipping away the shell that was surrounding it.

Cas hadn’t broken the eggs. The eggs were hatching.

Dean was an idiot.

“Oh my god!” he said. “Oh my god!! They’re hatching! Cas, oh my god!”

“Ka-has!” Cas said proudly, sitting back and puffing out his chest.

The second egg was much further along than the first. The crack was a couple centimeters wide and the gooey, wet chick inside was barely visible. The first chick was hard at work though, attempting to catch up. Dean wanted to step forward and help them, but with Cas hovering the way he was, Dean didn’t want to risk it.

The second chick seemed to be resting now, since the egg had fallen still. The first chick was taking the opportunity to catch up, working extra hard at breaking off a large section of its egg. And after a few minutes of breath-holding and struggling, a section from the top broke free and fell away.

Dean glimpsed the flash of wet, dark hair and similar dark feathers and sucked in a sharp breath.

It was here!

Well, not yet. The poor chick still had quite the fight before it was free of the egg and probably even longer as it dried off and figured out how to manage its wings.

It was so tiny though. So fragile. Almost helpless.

Except Cas didn’t help them.

He sat back at the head of the bed and proudly watched his children work for themselves to enter the world. His wings were spread protectively but other than that, he was completely content to just watch.

The second chick was back to work after its short rest and seemed determined to join its sibling. The crack had widened to completely stretch from top to bottom, and the chick inside seemed to be trying to push the two sides open like double doors. It was a tough feat, certainly, but as Dean watched in awe, the chick pushed and pushed and finally opened the crack enough to spill out onto the mattress, all wet and flailing limbs and adorableness.

“Oh my god,” Dean breathed.

“Ka-has,” Cas said softly, bending down to coo over his newly hatched child, nosing it over to make sure everything was okay.

Dean didn’t get much of a chance to marvel at the first chick when the second chick was breaking over its own egg too, spilling out onto the mattress next to the first in the same tumble of limbs. And suddenly there were two squirming bundles of adorableness on Dean’s bed, and he realized that he should probably be doing something to help.

“Uh, uh, I’ll go grab a washcloth,” he said stupidly.

Dean ended up grabbed three towels and three washcloths, one for each chick to get them clean. He used warm water because cold seemed too harsh and hot seemed too much. Dean actually had no idea what he was doing. He carried everything back to the bedroom.

Cas was grooming the mucus off the second chick’s face, sheltering the other chick and the last egg with his wings, using his body heat to dry them off as best he could.

“Here,” Dean said, setting his armload down at the end of the bed.

Using one washcloth, he gently worked with the other chick, washing off the gunk left over from the inside of the egg. The chick’s wings were not black, like he had first thought, but rather dark brown. The undersides were pale, almost white in some places. Dean carefully brushed down the feathers but mostly left them to dry on their own. The chick’s hair was a shock of pale blonde, and it had yet to open its eyes.

“They’re perfect,” Dean told Cas.

Cas cooed like he already knew exactly what Dean was talking about. He puffed out his chest proudly and then went back to nosing over his offspring.

The second chick, the one that Cas was busy grooming, looked much more like its father than the other. Its feathers were truly black, same as its hair, even the undersides remained dark, not fading in any way. Like the other chick, it had yet to open its eyes but it was swinging its balled up fists at the world it hadn’t even seen yet, ready to fight for its existence apparently.

Dean couldn’t help but smile.

“Here we go,” he said softly, pulling away the washcloth from the chick he had been washing. He switched to a towel, wrapping the small thing up like a normal human baby. He made sure not to trap its wings though, not sure what sort of damage could be done without meaning to.

Cas was fretting over the other chick and once he realized that Dean was holding the other one, he was immediately more nervous than before. Dean set the chick down then, and let Cas continue with his fretting.

“Wait a minute,” Dean said, looking back to the third egg.

It was still sitting on the mattress, the shell still whole and un-cracked. Perhaps it was a late bloomer and would be hatching later on. Dean didn’t know. Were all the eggs supposed to hatch at the same time or was it normal for them to hatch at different time? Dean had no way of knowing. Cas was too busy making sure the other two chicks were okay to give any of his attention to the egg.

“Cas, what’s up with this last egg?” Dean asked, scooting forward and rolling the egg over. There weren’t any cracks that he could see, unless they were so tiny that they couldn’t be seen by the human eye. “Cas?”

Cas wasn’t even paying attention, too busy with the other two chicks.

“Cas?”

“Ka-has,” Cas said, turning three circles and then settling down on top of the two chicks. He turned up his nose at the egg and instead closed his eyes to go to sleep.

“Cas, you can’t just abandon it,” Dean said. “It could still hatch.”

Cas didn’t reply and if Dean didn’t know better, he would think Cas was asleep. But Cas had pretended to sleep before on more than one occasion. He was probably doing it now.

Dean sighed and took the third towel he had brought but hadn’t used. He wrapped it around the egg so that it would be propped up and then scooped more coals into the pan, easing it under the mattress underneath the abandoned egg. If Cas wouldn’t keep it warm, then apparently that would be Dean’s new job.

And so Dean fell into a new routine.

This time, though, it revolved around an egg that Cas didn’t care about. It didn’t matter if Dean moved or touched or turned it over. Cas couldn’t care less what Dean did. He was much too wrapped up in taking care of the two chicks that had hatched.

He still left early in the morning, but now he came back several times a day with food for the chicks to eat. A lot of it, Dean didn’t want to think about where it came from. Cas brought back small fish, chunks of bread, cheese, and fruit. He proudly presented each of his successful finds to his chicks, who ate food in unbelievable amounts.

The chicks were also growing at unbelievable rates as well. In only a couple days, their eyes opened and their feathers fluffed out. They looked like baby chickens, all fluff and spitfire. It would take a lot longer for them to actually grow into their wings, but they were making good progress.

Dean dutifully continued to warm the last egg, not sure if he was doing what was right or not. Cas had completely abandoned it and didn’t give it a second glance in favor of feeding and protecting the two chicks that had hatched. It was natural and logical, but Dean still couldn’t believe that Cas had done it. It seemed cruel.  

Dean couldn’t bring himself to do the same. He couldn’t give up hope just yet.

So, while Cas continued parenting and raising his offspring. Dean continued keeping the last egg warm. The two chicks continued to grow and flourish, so much so that they started taking over Dean’s apartment.

It only took a little over a week before they got too big for Dean’s bed. It took roughly two weeks before they were too big for the bedroom too. Dean was forced to open his doors and let them out or else they would start to tear the room apart. Now, it wasn’t uncommon for Dean to wake up with one of the chicks on his chest or fall asleep with one at his feet. It was nice to have the company even if it meant that no one in the apartment spoke English except for him and if he tried to get the chicks off a piece of furniture, he was yelled at by Cas.

After another week of that sort of chaos, Dean began to notice that the chicks were growing and not just physically.

Their wings were becoming sturdier and their feathers stronger. Instead of the fluff they had come out of their eggs with, their wings now looked like proper means of flight. Well, not entirely but it was getting better every day.

Dean continued to change the coal pan.

It felt odd to continually refer to them as chicks especially as their personalities started to emerge as they grew. It wasn't like he could tell their sex just yet and probably wouldn't be able to until they were full grown. Still, it felt callous to simply refer to them as Chick One and Chick Two. So, the youngest one that looked the most like Cas became Fish due to their love of the particular food. The oldest one then became Bread for the exact same reason.

Cas began coaxing his chicks to venture closer to the balcony as the days passed and their wings grew, showing them how to jump up onto the railing. His balance was much better than theirs though, but Dean dreaded the day the chicks finally did get the courage to jump up. He did his best not to think about it. 

Fish was exactly like their father in that they were bold and loud and selfish when it came to food and the best sunning spots. Bread was quieter and more cunning, sneaking around the apartment and stealing scraps of food either from Dean or Cas to make up for Fish gorging themselves during mealtime. Dean wished their sibling would hatch so it could join them.

There wasn’t much he could do except replace the coals in the pan and turn it every day.

Until.

Until Fish and Bread actually climbed up onto the balcony railing the next morning while Dean walked in in the middle of breakfast. He had just been planning on refilling the coal pan and leaving Cas up to his devices, but he glanced over and nearly spit out his cereal when he saw Fish perched proudly on the railing, stubby wings raised triumphantly over their head. Bread was slinking on the ground beneath them.

“Hey!” Dean said. “Get down from there!”

He set his bowl aside on the side table and rushed toward the balcony, wanting to snatch Fish up before they hurt themselves. He didn’t get that far.

Fish crowed triumphantly, saw Dean coming, and panicked. They shrieked sharply and moved to dart out of the way, only to lose their balance. With an undignified squawk, Fish tumbled off of the railing, flailing their wings and trying to grab the railing.

Fish missed, of course. Because they were just a small avem.

Dean felt the heavy weight collide with his shoulders and then his gut slammed into the railing too, nearly knocking the wind from his lungs. Dean didn’t even understand what had hit him until two skinny arms and a familiar pair of black wings circled around him.

“Ka-has!” Cas cried, voice full of concern as his youngest tumbled out into open space. He beat his fists against Dean’s back, clearly angry at him for his stupidity.

“Get off, it’s not my fault!” Dean said, reaching back to yank Cas off. “They jumped on their own!”

“Ka-has!” Cas cried. Apparently he didn't care.

He pushed himself off Dean's shoulders, arching into a dive over the edge of the balcony and slipping through Dean's fingers just like Fish had. Dean was left alone on the balcony, Bread having retreated quickly into the bedroom after hearing their dad's yell of alarm.

“Fuck,” Dean spat and lunged for the railing for himself.

He was almost knocked back on his ass when Cas shot straight back up, having successfully caught and rescued a terrified Fish. Cas didn't stop and land on the balcony though. Instead, he carried Fish up, higher than the roof and then some. He reached the peak of his assent and leveled off and then . . .

Just. . .

Dropped Fish.

Well, it was more like a toss, but nonetheless, Cas let go of him midair, and Fish was left tumbling for a second time.

“God damnit,” Dean muttered. Just when he thought things were fine, Cas had to go and fuck it up again. What was he thinking?!

Fish flailed for about five feet and then got their wings under them. Or maybe over them. Whatever. All that mattered was that Fish had figured out how to fly and they did it fast. In another moment, they were back up next to Cas, crowing in victory, tiny little wings spread wide in success.

“Ka-has!” Cas said, calling back down to where Bread had ventured cautiously back out onto the balcony.

Bread cooed softly, definitely a lot more hesitant about this whole flying thing than Fish had been. Still, at Cas's promoting and urging, Bread slowly crept closer to the railing, staring intensely up at the sky.

Dean debated about scooping them up, not wanting to watch as a second hatchling going themselves nearly to death. But it was something that had to happen. Bread would have to learn someday and apparently that would be today.

“Go on,” he coaxed softly, stepping away from the railing to give Bread plenty of room. “You can do it.”

Bread cooed quietly, sitting up so that they could grab the edge of the railing. They peered up at the sky, wings twitching nervously. They looked up at Cas and Fish and then looked back at Dean, as if questioning why he hasn't joined them up in the air.

“That's something you have to do,” Dean said, jerking his chin up at the sky. “Not me. Go on. They're waiting.”

Bread cheeped softly, more to themselves that to anything. Still hesitant. Still unsure.

Dean really considered tossing them over the railing. Cas was starting to get anxious, circling closer and closer and glaring at Dean as if this were his fault. And Dean certainly didn’t want to invoke his anger or irritation.

“Go on,” he said, stepping even further behind Bread to give them more room. “Show ‘em how it’s done.”

Bread chirped and then hoisted themselves up onto the railing, wobbling like a leaf in a windstorm. They gripped the railing tight, looking down over the side and then up in the air. Bread spread their wings and gave a couple tentative flaps, as if test the waters. Well, the air. They looked back over their shoulder at Dean.

“Go,” Dean said.

Bread chirped, crouched, and then jumped into the air.

Cas was immediately swooping down to grab their hands and pull them up. Bread was flapping hard, face scrunched in concentration. Cas pulled them up and up until Bread was able to stabilize themselves.

Then then they were all flying, and it was the proudest moment of Dean's life.

They were all flying!! Really flying!

From eggs to now soaring through the air, it was almost hard to believe. Dean had been lucky to be able to see something that amazing. Why Cas had come to him to help watch after the eggs, Dean would never know, but he was grateful for it. Amazed.

Dean turned back to the bedroom and looked at the lone egg still sitting on his bed, propped up in its blanket and pillow nest. It still hadn’t hatched and it had been almost a month since Fish and Bread had. Was it time to give up on it? Dean didn’t know what he would do if he broke it and there was a chick inside though. He would never forgive himself.

A thud on the balcony made him turn.

“Ka-has,” Cas said quietly, cocking his head as he looked at Dean.

Dean pointed to the egg as if Cas could understand him. “It hasn’t hatched yet.”

Cas crept forward and climbed onto the bed, crawling up and sniffed the egg over. He wrinkled his nose and clicked his tongue.

He snatched the egg up and was bolting for the balcony before Dean could react, jumping from the railing and spreading his wings. Dean actually gasped when he dropped the egg, letting it tumble out of his fingers and down onto the street below.

He should have known better.

The egg splattered on the cobblestone with an odd pop, spilling rotten yoke and not much else into the open. Dean actually had to cover his nose as the smell drifted up to where he was standing.

Rotten.

The egg had been rotten.

Well, two out of the three wasn’t that bad. Cas was already swooping up to join Fish and Bread who were gaining more confidence by the minute. He cawed triumphantly, herding his hatchlings away from Dean’s house and out into the world, eager for them to explore and start hunting on their own.   

Cas didn't even spare Dean a backwards glance as he ushered Fish and Bread along, already cooing to them and pointing out different things in the city. Being a good parent.

Dean sighed and looked down at the shattered egg on the street. He wrinkled his nose.

That was avem for you, he guessed. He waited on the balcony a moment longer, just so that he could watch Cas completely disappear into the skyline and become a silhouette he couldn't recognize. Only then did Dean push himself up from the railing and amble back into the bedroom.

He grabbed the coal pan out from under the mattress and the bucket of old charcoal that was all the castoffs. All the towels and cloths would need to be wash so he piled those in the crook of his arm. He carried his entire load out of the bedroom and down to the forge, leaving the towels on his workbench and the coal pan near the furnace.  He dumped the bucket of charcoal out into the bin to join the rest of the other leftovers accumulated during his work. He would have to empty it later but that was a job for another time.

Dean grabbed the coal pan next and opened the hatch emptying it into low-burning fire that he always kept going. He turned to hang the device on the wall when a bit of movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention.

Dean glanced over and spotted the single black feather that was fluttering to a stop on top of his work bench. It was black and curled, one of the fluffy down feathers probably lost from either Fish or Bread when they were growing in their flight primaries or whatever.

How it had gotten there, Dean didn't know. It was there though now.

He walked across the work space and picked it up, twirling it in his fingers as he held it up to the light.

Cas would most likely be back and anything as ever eventually. His chicks would grow and probably be as annoying as him if they were anything like their father. Life would go on, Dean figured, and everything would go back to normal except with two more avem in the world.

Dean pocketed the feather and turned to where his latest version of wings were hanging in the wall. With renewed inspiration, he unhooked them and pulled them down onto his workbench. After seeing how the chicks had developed and learned to fly, he had a few choice changes he definitely wanted to make.

If everything went alright, who knows? Maybe Dean would be joining Cas sooner than he thought.

 


End file.
